An alternate historical chronology is a historical approach that discards or rearranges elements of the commonly-accepted history of human civilizations and replaces them with new narratives. Alternate historical chronologies can be used to prop up ideological or political claims, to reap profits from book sales, or simply to attack an established branch of knowledge for being non-inclusive. These chronologies frequently present themselves as self-enclosed systems that derive their authority from the creator's personal charisma. Revisionist histories--dissenting views within the academic discipline of history--should not be included within this category, provided that they are based upon logical arguments, verifiable data, and are formed by individuals conversant in accepted historiography.

Alternate historical chronology is not to be confused with alternate historical fiction[wp].

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Alternate histories, though seemingly false, can be particularly compelling because of their broad scope and their originator's ability to pick and choose evidence used. The cherry picking of evidence can easily sway some people into thinking that such alternate histories may be genuine while on the other hand it may take a specialist or someone with far wider-reaching knowledge of history to realize how the alternate theory(s) can be wrong. Cherry picking historical evidence, especially to say that certain periods didn't even exist, is particularly unusual because it is impossible to separate historical evidence in such a manner; we could have no evidence of Europe existing between 500 and 1000 CE but that doesn't mean that those dates didn't exist because we'd also have to show the same anomaly for every other country and continent on the planet. In addition to selective evidence alternate historical chronologies can be especially attractive to some because of the compelling narratives that they can generate. Defying established history and attempting to replace it with what is essentially unproven or even fantastical theories can be done to suit a range of political ideals. As with conspiracy theories, one of the primary drivers for people who believe alternative histories is possibly a need to feel that they know better or more than everyone else, established experts or the "official" consensus stories. While most credentialed historians are highly skeptical about these unproven and often highly unusual theories sometimes the proponents of these theories make inroads into popular media.

A perhaps more honest use of such alternate chronologies is within speculative fiction (the more general euphemism for science fiction). In such cases the author is direct about such changes in the sense that the work is presented as fiction, and that they have altered history to make for a better story. Usually such alterations are quite noticeably large and dramatic compared to the often subtle changes made by some alternate historians who question or completely deny aspects of conventional history or established dates and ancient history but don't do anything so spectacular as claiming Nazi Germany won the Second World War.

Fomenko is considered a top mathematician, being a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, but he is most (in)famous for his historical work, revising orthodox historical chronology. Fomenko's New Chronology asserts that most of recorded history was composed by Church mandate, for the purpose of validating the historical placement of Biblical events, and that real history only begins in the 11th century-CE! He does not explain away the Old Kingdom of Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia. His chronology is commonly rejected among professional historians, including most fellow Russian academics, as being non-historical in nature.[1]

His theories have been endorsed by several prominent people in Russia, including former chess champion Garry Kasparov, a genius and polymath of much renown - so it must be right.[2]

Illig's phantom time hypothesis consists of the idea that several pre-1000 CE centuries, specifically the period 614-911 CE, were fabricated and "inserted" into the historical record[3][4]. Supposedly, this took place at the command of Holy Roman Emperor Otto III who wished to be on the throne come the "millennium".

This theory would eliminate or displace, among other things, a fair number of the Merovingian ruling dynasty and most of the Carolingians (including Charlemagne), the Battle of Tours in 732, the Viking raids of the 8th and 9th centuries, and the establishment of both the Duchy of Normandy and the Kingdom of East Francia, which later became the Holy Roman Empire.

Illig's theory is geographically limited to France and Germany, so it is unclear how he intends to account for the events that are supposed to have happened elsewhere in the world during the period in question.

Immanuel Velikovsky's ideas in no way relate to those of Fomenko or Illig. Attempts have been made throughout history to verify the accuracy of Biblical scripture through the use of falsified historical information. Velikovsky's ideas are an example of this trend.

Velikovsky's so-called Revised Chronology was an attempt to reconcile the history of the ancient Near East, particularly that of Egypt, with the historical accounts found in the Bible. A central concept for Velikovsky is that of alter egos: historical characters who are named by different names in different sources, but actually refer to the same person. In this way, Queen Hatshepsut becomes the Queen of Sheba, and Thutmose III King Shishak of 1 Kings 11:40. On average, the Revised Chronology requires that the commonly accepted chronology of Egypt be changed by about 500 years.